


Away from home

by itfeelslikeaparty



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Gen, USWNT
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-10 07:37:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11687046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itfeelslikeaparty/pseuds/itfeelslikeaparty
Summary: Tobin Heath and Hope Solo travel to the UK for their college education. Hope finds a special someone and Tobin develops feelings for Christen but is unsure whether to act on them. Alex's boyfriend opens up about his dislike for these relationships, after keeping it held in to respect Alex's friendships. His best-friend is also opposed, but has his sights set on one of the 'clan'.





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> This is my sister's fic from wattpad. We've decided to do it on 2 platforms as it's a joint effor kinda thing, idk why. Hope y'all like it....

Tobin Heath flings her Vans Zelda backpack over her left shoulder. With her snapback securely on her head, she turns 90 degrees and walks down the aisle of the Boeing 787. She smiles thankfully at the cluster of stewardesses as she exits the plane into Heathrow Terminal 3.

Once she has got through customs, and has collected her luggage, Tobin's next task will be finding the KCL student designated to take her, and one other, to her shared flat near the college campus.

 Tobin makes it through customs, without any hiccups, and is just collecting her luggage when something thuds into her leg with quite substantial force.

 "Oof, shit! The fuck was that? " Tobin thinks of the bruise that will most definitely form later.

 "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." A brunette had suddenly appeared in front of her. "I haven't got used to the four wheels on my suitcase yet, it kinda makes it a bit dangerous. Enhanced movement and me having no control over it!"

 "It's fine, honestly. I just need to get outta here."  

 "Yeah. Same actually. I'm meant to be finding some KCL kid by the name of.." The brunette rummaged around in her Nike messenger bag. "...yep, here it is, um... blah, blah,blah... yeah, Lori Chalupny."

 "No shit! I'm meant to be meeting her too!"

 "Well there's a coincidence." mumbles the Italian-American, "It's Hope, by the way."

 "Um, yeah, I'm Tobin. We ought to get moving."

The two young adults grab their belongings and set out to find the mystery 'Lori'.

**

 "Right, so neither of you have Oysters?"

 "Nope." reply both Tobin and Hope in unison.

 "That's going to have to change, but I suppose you could have day passes until we can get that sorted."

 Lori walks up to a ticket machine and proceeds to purchase two day tickets to get the Americans to their destination via the London Underground.

 "Oh, well these are adorable." drawls Hope two minutes later.

 "Ew, why are they pink, that is so not gender neutral."

 "Jesus Christ, Tobin. Do you actually want to get to the flat or not?"

 "Piss off, Hope. I don't recall asking for your opinion," Tobin smirks.

 Lori just beams throughout their bickering. "I think we should be able to go now. We'll need to take the Picadilly Line, change at South Kensington, onto the District Line, to get to Temple.

 "Right, how do you know that off by heart?" exclaims Tobin, "Not all of us have elephant memory, you know!"

 "You kind of just learn it after awhile, I've lived in London all my life, anyway," Lori explains quickly.

 Hope's face lights up, "So you'll know where all the bars are then?"

 "Um..."

"You know, out clubbing, dusk 'til dawn!"

 "I don't really go in for that stuff, I mean, I do go out, but my knowledge of that kind of thing is not exactly expansive."

 Tobin, meanwhile, is intensely studying the tube map. "So, from Temple, Leicester Square is District Line, change at Embankment to Northern Line. That's where all the movie theatres are, right?"

**

 "So, welcome to our humble abode," Lori announces proudly whilst gesticulating wildly, almost sending a collection of Starbucks mugs flying. "I will inform you now, that the fourth of our quartet is not currently present. To be honest, she's probably skipping class right now, but there's no way of finding out where she is because she's one of those people that always have their phones on silent. Anyway, she is called Alex, and she likes to play Monopoly on her own."

 This fact earns a scoff from Tobin, and one corner of Hope's mouth moves upwards.

 "But," Lori continues, with a straight face, "on a less amusing not, there are some rules."

 "Ooh, let me guess!" Hope pleads, "No sex after midnight, no parties on weekdays and..."

 "No sleeping with each other!" Tobin chimes in, "'cos that wouldn't be awkward." She adds in a sarcastic tone. "But, you know, only if you're into that kind of thing..."

 "Well," Lori looks mildly uncomfortable, "Alex and I decided on 11 pm, and as for parties, I don't think we have enough space."

 The two Americans glance around and acknowledge that the student flat just about accommodates four students (at any one time) in the, shall I say, economically sized living room.

 "Um, yeah, I guess so?" Hope contributes.

 "Anyway, I think you guys should go get settled in, and then we might be able to order some lunch before Alex gets back.

**

 The trio are walking along the Strand when Lori's phone pings (that familiar Facebook Messenger ping) in her back pocket.

Alex -> Chalups : wheres food im @ the flat

Lori -> Lex : were going 2 byrons 4 burgers

                     : well bring u 1 back

Alex -> Chalups : ok cl whos  we

Lori -> Lex : find out later

Alex -> Chalups : fuck u kk cl :)

 "So, I ordered burgers from Byron's. They do really good American style burgers."

 "Great, I feel like Jesus in that fucking desert for 40 days." Tobin looks to the sky and raises her arms for dramatic effect, "Satan, where are you!"

 "Lovely," says Lori joyfully, "I ordered a 'B-Rex', 'Classic', 'Smoky' and 'The B & A'. They do great onion rings as well, so I got two of those, one normal fries and then a bacon and cheese fries."

 Hope prods Lori's arm, "Who's paying?" she asks earnestly.

 "Oh, it's fine. Lunch is on me, you've just flown in, after all. You can get some rest once we've eaten back at the flat."

 "Right, so you bargained on us not being vegetarians." Tobin states with a slight smile.

 "Yes, I suppose so. You could always eat the onion rings."

 "Nah, I was joking. Wouldn't give up bacon for the world."

**

 Tobin, Hope and Lori wander into the apartment to find Alex stretched out on the sofa accompanied by a copy of Emily Brontë's  'Wuthering Heights'.

 "What took you so long?" Ice blue eyes move to examine the two new students standing by the door laden with food boxes.

 "Well, for starters, walking to Byron and back," Lori replies sardonically.

  Alex glances towards Lori before returning her gaze to the brunettes at the door.

"So, you are..."

"Tobin, and she's Hope." Tobin indicates vaguely at Hope with her free hand.

 "So, you guys have the food... get the fuck over here now! I'm fucking famished!"

 Tobin and Hope look at each other with equally puzzled expressions at this young woman's ability to omit more than your average loud noise in decibels.

 The four end up sitting on the floor talking about the best bars, places to avoid and other assorted subjects.


	2. Chapter II

Rise and shine, fuckers!" Alex shouts as she pulls back the curtains in Hope and Tobin's room.

"Agh! Light! Turn it off!" Hope pulls her duvet over her head.

"Hey, shut up." Tobin mumbles into her pillow, "What time is it?"  
"Time for you to get a watch, asshole," Alex replies without hesitation. She leaves the room feeling confident that her 'wake up' mission was successful.

 

Tobin grabs her phone from beside her bed. It's only 8 am, thus she has time for more sleep. No! She has her first lecture at 9, yet she has no clue where she's meant to be going. She grabs some clean clothes and a towel and makes her way to the bathroom.

After a quick shower and some freshening up, Tobin leaves the bathroom clad in her favourite pair of jeans, white with rips at the knees, and a Rolling Stones t-shirt.

Tobin met her flatmates in the kitchen a minute later.

"Sleep well?" asks Lori in her usual optimistic manner.

"Fine, before 'Bitch Filling Her Face With Granola' thought it would be so funny to wake us up at some unearthly hour in the morning." Hope replies whilst simultaneously pouring coffee and glaring at Alex.

Alex returns the glare, "Well, if I hadn't woken you guys up, someone would have missed their lecture." she gesticulating wildly with her spoon, although it points in the general direction of Tobin.

"More importantly..." Tobin is interrupted when half of Hope's toasted bagel narrowly misses her face and hits the wall behind her shoulder.

"There is nothing more important than my sleep schedule!" Hope turns her death glare to Tobin. "If I am to learn anything, I need to be at least half awake!"

"Okay, I think you need to calm down, I was just gonna say that I have no idea where my lecture is and it starts in less than half an hour!"

"Oh, yes! That reminds me. I have maps for you guys. It shows where everything is on campus." Lori goes over to her satchel and brings out two colourful pieces of paper. "I have nothing this morning, so I'll take you, Tobin, to your lecture and Alex will take Hope to see the others."

"Who are the others?" Tobin asks, confused,

Alex smiles, "Just the people in the flat below us. You'll meet them later."

**  
Alex and Hope are standing at the door of flat 5, the apartment below theirs.

Alex raises her arm and knocks on the door. Hope can hear footsteps approaching the other side of the door. The door flies open and a smallish, freckle-faced undergraduate stands there grinning.

Hope's eyes met the hazel coloured pair in front of her. The smile on the girl's face grew wider, if that is anatomically possible.

"Hey, I'm Kelley, 'sup Alex!"

"Hi, I thought I'd bring Hope down to meet the rest of the clan, as it were."

"Oh cool, cool. Come on in. So...," she turns to face Hope, "you're from the US?"  
"Y-yes..." Shit! Why was she stuttering, she'd never been nervous around anyone before.

Kelley continues, completely oblivious of Hope's internal panic-attack. "Awesome, I always wanted to go stateside. Is Disney world as good as they say? What's New York like?"

"Damn, Kel, give her a break! You can ask stuff later."

"Fine." Kelley whines, "So, there are four of us living here. Ali, Ashlyn, Christen and me. By the way, Ali and Ashlyn are totally getting it on! They're not official yet. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Hope looks a little confused by this rapid influx of new information as Kelley rushes off to gather the rest of the group.

"So," Alex turns to Hope, "Kelley is a bit excitable. She can speak a lot more quickly than that, but I think you guys are gonna get on fine."

"Oh, okay, cool." Hope steps into the flat cautiously, expecting Kelley to suddenly appear with an entire notebook of introductory questions. She shudders at the thought.

"Are you cold?" A pleasant voice to her left asks. "I mean, it is the summer."  
Hope turns to see the source of the voice, a dark haired 22-year-old with a friendly smile. "No, I'm fine, thanks. Um, who...?"

"'Sup, her names Ali, I'm Ashlyn." A blonde wearing a snapback backwards interrupts the question.

"Hey!" Ali pushes the blonde playfully, "Give her a chance to speak."  
"Fuck off. When you start to pay more than I do in renting this flat, I'll let you tell me when or when not to speak!" Ashlyn smiled victoriously at Ali whilst putting her arms round her neck.

"I told you, it's painful to watch." Kelley grimaced at the sight of the 'couple'.

"It's not like some of us can't wait for these few years of flat-sharing with you to be over." A dark haired young woman had appeared in the doorway of one of the bedrooms.

"Oh really?" Kelley smirks, "I go out and buy the food when we' run out, and, in case you hadn't noticed, there is always a carton of milk in the fridge."

Ali walks over to the fridge. "No milk in here" she states, peering at the inside of the door, then the main section. 

"That's 'cos it's on the fucking table" Kelley retorts. "Dumbass," she mutters, although not quietly enough so that not everyone would hear here. 

"Oh shit, it is." Ali smiles sheepishly, "You'll have to buy some more soon though."

Kelley's facial expression changes to look very similar to an angry squirrel. She picks up the nearest available object, in this case the Collins English Dictionary, and throws it at Ali.

Ali, on the receiving end of the attack, ducks behind the kitchen counter and watches the book fly over her head and hit the milk on the table.

The milk carton proceeds to empty its contents onto the floor.

"Which shithead failed to put the cap back on the milk?" Kelley's voice projects through the kitchen.

"Thank the Lord for Cillit Bang." Ashlyn put her hands together and bowed her head. "Amen."

"Since when were you a woman of the cloth?" Ali dares to stand up from the behind the counter.

Kelley, however, is armed and ready with, luckily for Ali, the paperback version of 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel. The book soars through the empty air and lands, rather messily, in the fruit bowl.

"Fuck you. I was gonna eat those grapes and now look at them. Every single one of them is crushed. On the plus side, we could now start a winery!"

"Have you learnt nothing during your time on this planet?" Kelley retorts.   
"Maybe not, but I do spend my time more productively. As in, not making my shared kitchen look like Coventry during WWII!" Ali glares at Kelley.

Alex chips in with an attempt to lighten the mood, "You are so obviously a History major, Ali."

"I'm Christen," The girl near the door moves towards Hope, "Sorry about this, it kinda happens a lot."

"Nah, it's fine. I think I'll get used to it." Hope looks to Kelley, who gave her a wide grin, she turns back to Christen, "I'm Hope."

"Yeah, I guessed. Isn't there another new one?" she said to Alex.  
"Yup, but she's at a lecture. She'll be coming with Lori soon."

Ali had by now binned the massacred grapes, after deciding that there was no hope left for them, and had righted the milk carton. Ashlyn was having a heated discussion with Kelley as to why Kelley ought to clean up the milk instead of her.

Kelley's last words were, "You really are a stubborn little prick." before she disappeared to find the cleaning fluid.

**  
Tobin and Lori are returning when Tobin decides that she wants cupcakes. Lori took her to Primrose Bakery in Covent Garden to fulfil her needs.  
She buys a box of six, regular cupcakes, including the daily special, 'Cookies & Cream'.

"So, I thought we could go and see a movie on Wednesday."

Tobin looks up from the cupcakes, "Yeah, sure. Who are you planning on bringing?"

"Our flat, the flat below us, and Alex might bring Servando."

"Who's Servando?"

"Just some guy Alex has been dating since last semester. I don't trust him, to be honest."

"He's probably got a secret evil twin." Tobin jokes.

"Anyway, we need to get back to the flat before lunchtime. I have a lecture at 1."

"Oops, better rush then." Tobin laughs.  
They both quicken their pace and are at the apartment building in no time.

Lori speaks first in the elevator on the way up to the 3rd floor.

"Kelley can be tad aggressive but she's put in line by Christen. Ali and Ashlyn are just provocative, but you can ignore them."

"I think I might relate to Kelley, what's her major?"  
"English Lit, I think."  
"No then."

The elevator doors slid open and the two flatmates walk up to the door of flat 5.

Lori knocks gently on the door and it opens seconds later. A pair of beautiful green eyes is focused on Tobin. Tobin, momentarily speechless, becomes very interested in her Adidas trainers.

Lori breaks the silence. "Hi, Christen. I thought I'd bring Tobin to come meet you guys."

"Um...sorry? Oh, Yeah!" Christen snaps out of her trance. Those eyes, she thought, those chocolatey eyes with that sparkling twinkle. "Do you want to come in?"

"Um, that is why we're here." Lori gives Christen a confused look.  
A slight blush forms on Christen's cheeks. "Yes, of course. Sorry. We've just had a small crisis with the English Dictionary making unfortunate contact with the milk carton."

"Where the fuck is the Cillit Bang? I honestly can't find anything in this flat. Ever."

Tobin looks up from her shoes at this sudden outburst.  
Christen looks apologetic. "That's Kelley, she really doesn't like cleaning... and Ashlyn made her clean up."

"Oh." Tobin walks past Christen and into the flat, but not before making brief eye contact.

The chaos before her cannot be any less like a London street. It is crowded, messy, and loud, to say the least.

Tobin sees Alex and mouths 'cupcakes' to her whilst gesturing at the cake box in her hand. Alex's blue eyes signal for Tobin to take the cakes through to the living room.

Unfortunately, Tobin doesn't make it to the next room before Kelley sees the box.

"Aha! Cupcakes!" she points directly at Tobin and the box. Tobin gulps as the room goes into a deafening silence before Kelley, Hope, Ali and Ashlyn all let out war cries that would put the ancient Britons to shame. These outcries are released at the same time that they all charge towards Tobin.

As Kelley prepares for her rugby tackle, Tobin throws the box in the air. Instead of the box hitting the floor seconds later, Tobin sees Christen run and grab the box from the air.  
It didn't take long, however, for Kelley to realise the absence of the box.

"Bugger, we lost. Where d'you put 'em?" She eyes Tobin suspiciously. "Baked goods don't just disappear into thin air."

Tobin is in her comfort zone. "Are you threatening me?"  
"So what if I am?"  
"I'll teach you to threaten me!" With this, Tobin lunges at Kelley and shoves her to the floor. "Now, I have some cakes to find if you don't mind me." Tobin gets up and smirks, holding out her hand to help Kelley up.

"Hmm, not bad. She's got real fighting spirit." Kelley says to Ashlyn, then turns to face Christen. "Oi, Press! I know you have the cupcakes!"  
Christen smiles a full, genuine smile.


	3. Chapter III

Lori decides, that afternoon, that Tobin and Hope need a tour of some of the sites of London. This includes places such as Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, Covent Garden, etc. As no one, apart from Alex and Ashlyn, have lectures, they insist on tagging along too.

Tobin is looking forward to the outing as an opportunity to get to know Christen more. Unfortunately, Kelley is adamant that she is going to be the tour guide and shall yell "interesting" facts about London over the constant hum of the city's traffic. Tobin, as she occasionally manages to tune out Kelley's encyclopaedic recitation of London's landmarks, takes every chance she can to get a glimpse of Christen's enchanting greeny-blue eyes. At around 3 o'clock the group of friends are standing in the endless queue to get onto the London Eye.

They have moved approximately one metre in 15 minutes. The girls are eagerly discussing what they'll be able to see from whichever pod they're in. As it is a relatively clear day with only very few clouds and some sunshine, they will be able to see over quite a lot of London when they reach the highest point of the wheel's rotation.

"Maybe we should've waited until we had a morning free or something," Tobin suggested. "It's usually quieter then."

"That's the thing with London, it's never not busy, even in the mornings," Lori explained.

As the group shuffled a few inches further along in the queue, the discussion changed to what they might do in the evening. Tobin and Hope expressed a dire wish to visit Leicester Square and one of the cinemas. Tobin was, however, mainly focused on the good eating spots she'd heard about from her cousin who had lived in London for a while. She had moved away 6 months ago to work in Munich, otherwise Tobin would most likely have been staying with her.

They had planned Wednesday as their cinema night, but no one saw any problem with moving it a day in advance. Ali bails from the excursion as she has a test that she has done almost no work in preparation for. Ashlyn asks to bail too, mumbling something about not wanting Ali to be alone. Everyone else is able to come, with Kelley, as always, being very enthusiastic. Hope is in awe of how much energy and excitement Kelley possesses.

A good hour later (yes, it does actually take that long in real life), the group get into the pod they're sharing with a family of four, two adults and two young children.

As the wheel slowly rotates the girls watch the ground and all the people get gradually smaller. By the time they've got to the top, London's famous skyline looks magnificent. Looking across the river, the girls can see St Paul's cathedral and its magnificent dome, the Gherkin and other famous landmarks. Looking down they have a spectacular view of the busy city of London with its bustling population in the streets amongst the heaving traffic.

It is around 5 when the group return to terra firma, and they decide to head back to their respective apartments and get ready for the cinema and dinner out. ** When they get back to their apartment building after an unnecessarily long public transport journey, everyone decides to meet in the lobby at around 7:30, giving each of the evening party just over an hour and a half to get ready.

*Tobin, etc. apartment*

Tobin, Hope, Lori and Alex each goes to their room to pick an outfit and change.

The corridor becomes quite busy as people pop in and out of their rooms to ask things like "Does this work?" and "Are you sure this doesn't clash?" other queries of a similar nature. Also causing congestion in the corridor are the people desperately trying to make their way to the bathroom to shower. A lot of shouting and banging on doors ensues when the shower is being used for more than the allotted time. This turns or to be about 30 seconds in the eyes of whoever is not currently in the shower.

Tobin eventually decides on a pair of slightly distressed black denim jeans, rolled up at the bottom, a green and blue plaid button down and a simple black and white pair of Adidas superstars to complete her look. She picks up her favourite leather jacket and sits at the island in the kitchen, waiting for the others to appear.

Lori arrives in a pair of mom jeans and a cute cropped sweater, her hair is plaited into a fishtail, courtesy of Alex. "Hi, ready first I see." Tobin nods in reply. "Alex usually takes the longest to get ready but it's fine, we've got plenty of time 'til we ought to be downstairs."

"Hey, guys." Hope walks into the kitchen in high-waisted jeans and a crop top. "Before you say anything, Lori, I am bringing my parka so I don't freeze to death." Hope mimics shivering before retrieving her jacket from the coat stand.

The last into the room is Alex who, of course, looks stunning in a dress that is neither too casual nor too smart. She has her jacket in her left hand, phone in her right, she has to carry it due to a lack of pockets. "Of we go then." Says Lori.

*Christen, etc. apartment*

Kelley and Ashlyn burst through the door with absolutely no warning whatsoever. Kelley had remembered, on their way up in the lift, that there was one portion of Ben and Jerry's ice cream left in the freezer. She had made the mistake of saying this out loud and catching Ashlyn's attention, thus the pair had decided on a race from the lift to see who could get the freezer first.

Kelley, unfortunately, trips on the misplaced dictionary from earlier, causing her to lag behind Ashlyn who was, much to Kelley's disappointment, victorious in obtaining the ice cream. She proceeds to watch in sulky silence as Ashlyn ate the ice cream deliberately really slowly in front of her.

Ali and Christen walk into the apartment and view the scene, chuckling at the childishness of their two flatmates. Ali goes into the living room section of the apartment, sits down on the sofa, and is promptly greeted by the huge pile of notes she needs to learn for the test in a few days time.

Kelley manages to snap out of her sulk when Christen says they can buy more ice cream tomorrow. Both Kelley and Christen leave to go their rooms, Kelley shotgunning first shower extremely loudly, as usual.

The next hour is filled with loud shouts from Kelley, verbally abusing the bathroom floor after she slips, and then shouting something incoherent, directed at Ashlyn's laughter after she had heard the thud and aggressive shouting, both originating from the bathroom.

Kelley and Christen reappear into the main living space of the apartment just over an hour later. Kelley is wearing a simple pair of ripped jeans, rolled at the bottom, a comfortably sized t-shirt and a pair of black Old Skool Vans. "Has anyone seen my apartment key?" Kelley shouts. A series of answers in the negative are shouted back at her. She starts rummaging in her backpack but fails to find it.

"Hey, Kelley, we can use mine. Yours will turn up sooner or later." Christen tells her from where she's tying the laces on her shoes. Christen has on her favourite pair of jeans, cut just before the ankle and a pink baggy t-shirt that complements her tanned skin and dark hair perfectly.

The two girls say goodbye to Ali and Ashlyn and leave the apartment, shutting the door behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so I'm hoping for another chapter to be out by Saturday so....let's hope that happens...


	4. Chapter IV

The six girls meet in the lobby of their apartment building just after 7:30. Alex and her flatmates was there first, all sitting on the sofas waiting for Kelley and Christen to arrive. 

Soon the lift doors *pinged*, and Kelley and Christen stepped out and walked over to meet the others. 

Tobin had been chatting to Hope, facing in the opposite direction to the lift, and when she saw the look in Hope's eyes, who had just seen Kelley, she turned round and fell into a stunned silence at the sight of Christen. Neither Kelley nor Christen had put on anything particularly fancy, but they were still managing to make the jaws of the two Americans drop. Christen looks to Tobin who quickly averts her gaze and immediately becomes very interested in a painting on the far wall behind Christen. 

Kelley, meanwhile, had bounded over to Lori and Alex, glancing slightly in Hope's direction. She starts to pester Lori about which film they are going to watch, but since she gets not on reply other than "I don't know yet.", she decides to start asking Alex annoying questions about Servando.

"Is he coming", "Is he bringing anyone with him", "Will this count as a date for you guys", "Are you going to have a bit of an afterparty?" Kelley adds a wink to this last question and grins sheepishly, receiving a death glare from Alex.

"Ugh, you are so immature. Anyway, he's going to meet us where we're having dinner, with a friend. Although, I'm not too sure who the friend is."

"Yay, I love surprises!" Kelley says excitedly.

"We'd better be going now, anyway," states Lori, giving Kelley a disapproving look.

**

The group meet Servando and his friend in Leicester Square. Servando introduces himself to Tobin and Hope and then introduces his friend, Chris, to the rest of group. 

Kelley and Chris recognise each other from their maths lectures, but as she dislikes Chris because of how he calls people out whenever they get an answer wrong, she doesn't say anything. Chris looks slightly uncomfortable under the hard stare Kelley's giving him, but he looks away and proceeds to smirk at the Americans. 

"So, how are you liking London?" he asks Hope.

"Fine, thanks." Hope replies, refraining from adding 'before you turned up'. Hope isn't sure whether she likes the way he's looking at her and Tobin, deciding that she'll have to get to know him better, before she makes any more permanent decisions about his personality. She turns away and suggests that they start walking to the restaurant.

** 

The group enter Nandos and sit at their table, reserved for eight people. Alex and Servando sit next to each other, and next to them are Lori and Tobin. Tobin is opposite Christen, who has Kelley on her left, Hope then Chris.

Everyone orders and the table is soon buzzing with conversation and lots of laughter. 

Kelley, of course, makes most of the jokes and is naturally very loud, but the rivalry between her and Chris is accentuated by him as he tries to one-up almost every joke Kelley makes. This does, however, ruin the joke and ends up making him look very awkward. He also attempts to flirt with Tobin, but as she is at the other end of the table and is ignoring him, he quickly decides to move on to Hope. Kelley doesn't know why, but she feels a slight pang of jealousy and annoyance when she hears what Chris is saying and how he eyes Hope, but she is reassured when Hope simply glares at him on return. 

To get everyone into a group discussion again, Kelley suggest shots of Nandos' Extra Hot Peri-Peri Sauce. Everyone, apart from Lori, pours the sauce into a glass. Whoever can do the most shots wins. The next several minutes are filled with loud laughter as, one by one, the group are defeated by the hot sauce. It comes down to tie break between Tobin and Chris. Tobin is naturally competitive, and Chris is just kind of a douche, so the tension was high when Kelley had prepared the eight shots (four each, to see who could finish them fastest. Tobin won and Chris sat back, defeated and humiliated at being beaten at shots. He was well known for being one of the quickest at his high school, and he had been determined to keep up this reputation well into his time at university.  

Christen looks at Tobin, in awe of her success, clueless as to how she survived. Christen had gone out first. Tobin was downing a huge glass of water. 

"You know," Christen starts, "It's better to drink milk when your mouths on fire."

"Hmmm" was the initial reply she got from Tobin who was just finishing her water. "Do you think coke will work?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"Well anyway, thank God for bottomless drinks."

Christen giggles at this last comment. Seeing her smile made Tobin get butterflies in her stomach. She'd only ever got that feeling with her first girlfriend in high school. Emily was tall with brown hair and she seemed like the world to Tobin. They had been together for a year and a bit, but then Emily went off to uni and left Tobin heartbroken and alone. Every girl Tobin was with from then on was either no strings attached or a bad break up. Tobin needed someone who would really love her and not just leave when it became too difficult to stay together. Someone who would fight for their relationship, not just give up like Emily. 

Tobin makes eye contact with Christen and looks into her eyes, watching as the colour of the iris shifts from blue to green. Tobin feels her heart momentarily stop beating during the moment until she's pulled away by someone speaking loudly at her.

"HELLO, ANYONE IN THERE? EARTH TO TOBIN" Kelley waves both her hands in front of Tobin's and Christen's faces simultaneously.

Tobin blinks and looks at Kelley. Christen looks confused, like she had just been dreaming.

"Ah, great. You're not hypnotised. We all thought you guys had gone into some kind of trance." 

Christen is nervously fiddling with her necklace, not quite sure what had just happened. She knows she can't ignore it though, and after spending the remainder of the meal talking to Tobin, she felt that there was something there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tension is high in the villa.....  
> so, I will just say this (again but no again): this is my sisters fanfic, but i am, however editing it to correct tenses and grammar so it's not all over the place...


End file.
